Engaging Patients in Their Own Lives – Lenny Jason

RadioActive is an hour long talk show hosted by Natalie Kivell, a Ph.D. candidate in Community Well-Being at the University of Miami. Each week Natalie interviews academics and/or activists from around the world who dive into critical discussions from a Community Psychology lens aimed specifically at addressing structural inequality and the root causes of our complex social problems. The show aims to provoke listeners to think differently about social change and social justice to help shift how we think, act and react to social change efforts in our research and practice.

RadioActive airs every Sunday at 6pm on wvum.org out of the University of Miami student radio station.

Lenny Jason discusses his work on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalopathy (CFS/ME). Dr. Jason shared his definition of Community Psychology as a public health model of psychology and his work on engaging patients in case definition they relate to CFS/ME. In breaking the myth of the ‘yuppy flu’ as CFS/ME had been known, he highlights the need to create research that challenges the status quo research that did not reflect the needs and narratives of the patients with the disease. When the show originally aired CFS/ME had just been renamed Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease (SEID). Dr. Jason discussed the importance of including patient voice in decisions that impact their diagnoses and understanding of the impacts of CFS/ME.

The Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA) - Community Psychology, Division 27 of the American Psychological Association - serves many different disciplines that focus on community research and action. Our members are committed to promoting health and empowerment and to preventing problems in communities, groups, and individuals. Visit us at scra27.org